Greatful Heir Looks to Improve in Colleen

J and J Stables & Jeremiah Kane’s Greatful Heir came out running in her debut on June 26, winning by 3 ¾ lengths.

The daughter of Wildcat Heir will likely have to move forward though to achieve similar success in Sunday’s $70,000 Colleen Stakes.

The 5 ½-furlong event for 2-year-old fillies drew a field of 10.

“She had been training very well leading up to her debut,” said Greatful Heir’s trainer Ben Perkins Jr.  “You always hope they run like they train.”

In her career debut, Greatful Heir sat just off the pace before rolling home an open-length winner.  She ran five furlongs in :57 4/5.

Since her maiden victory, the chestnut filly shows two strong works, capped by a three-furlong blowout on August 3 in :36 3/5.

“She came back from her first race looking a little lean,” Perkins said.  “So we just gave her a couple weeks to get herself back together.  She’s been on a regular training regimen since then.”

With her maiden score in the books, Perkins says he began looking at the Colleen as the next logical step.

“This race has been on our radar for a while now,” he said.  “There was plenty of time between this race and her maiden win so we gave her plenty of time to recuperate.  The outside draw is fine.  With her speed, she should be able to sit in good position.  The outside of the track seems to be playing the best recently anyway.”